Stephen Donald Hopper AC FLS FTSE (born 18 June 1951) is a

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

. He graduated in Biology, specialising in

conservation biology Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an int ...

and vascular plants. Hopper has written eight books, and has over 200 publications to his name. He was Director of Kings Park in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

for seven years, and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the

Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority The Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority is a Government of Western Australia, Western Australian Government authority charged with the administration of Kings Park, Western Australia, Kings Park and Bold Park (Western Australia), Bold Park. It wa ...

for five. He is currently Foundation Professor of Plant Conservation Biology at The

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

. He was Director of the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

from 2006 to 2012. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Hopper when citing a

botanical name A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the '' International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the ''Intern ...

Honours

On 1 January 2001, the Australian government awarded Hopper the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

for his "service to the community". On 11 June 2012, Hopper was named a Companion of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for "eminent service as a global science leader in the field of plant conservation biology, particularly in the delivery of world class research programs contributing to the conservation of endangered species and ecosystems."

Albany

In 2015 he moved to

Albany, Western Australia Albany ( ; nys, Kinjarling) is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a ...

, and he has returned to his interest in ''

Anigozanthus ''Anigozanthos'' is a genus of Southwest Australian plants of the bloodwort family Haemodoraceae. The 11 species and their subspecies are commonly known as kangaroo paw or catspaw, depending on their size, and the shape and color of their flow ...

''.

Selected works

* ''Gondwanan heritage'' (1996) with Jane Sampson: * ''Endangered poison plants'' (1989) with Anne Taylor: * ''

The Banksia Atlas ''The Banksia Atlas'' is an atlas that documents the ranges, habitats and growth forms of various species and other subgeneric taxa of ''Banksia'', an iconic Australian wildflower genus. First published in 1988, it was the result of a three-yea ...

'' (1991) with Bert and Babs Wells: * ''Kangaroo paws and catspaws'' (1993) with illustrator Philippa Nikulinsky: *''Soul of the Desert'' (2005) *''Life on the Rocks'' (2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopper, Stephen 1951 births Living people 20th-century Australian botanists 21st-century Australian scientists 21st-century Australian botanists Australian taxonomists Botanists active in Australia Botanists active in Kew Gardens Botanists with author abbreviations Botany in Western Australia Companions of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Recipients of the Centenary Medal Scientists from Western Australia